It's long been my favorite area in Dragon Age II, a stupid name that embodies the worst in fantasy game lore-writing. My friends and I have taken to calling it "dorktown," and I can still quote the codex entry by heart.

"The foul miasma known as chokedamp clogs and swells in every corner of the Darktown."

Chokedamp! Good times.

I've already talked about how much I love the weapon-descriptions in the game, and this little chestnut in the "Badtown" description made me laugh.

Conscious shout-out to Dragon Age II? Accidental reference that just illustrates how bad the name "Darktown" really is? We may never know.

Kotaku

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BioWare 'doing great' despite missteps, says EA COO

22. Aug. 2012

Many have been disappointed in BioWare as of late--from Mass Effect 3's controversial ending, to the poor performance of Star Wars: The Old Republic, to Dragon Age 2's tepid reception. But EA COO Peter Moore says the publisher still has faith in the company.

"They're doing great," Moore told Eurogamer. "You say the last 12-18 months, I think of three things: I think of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I think of what Mass Effect 3 has done and all of the offshoots we've done of that, and then a little bit further back Dragon Age. So from that perspective I think the studio has done great."

He says Mass Effect was "enormous" in terms of sales, and credited BioWare for listening to the fans in regards to the ending controversy. "So the team at BioWare, again, to their credit, said, all right, we're going to stop a few things right now, the team's going to go back and provide some DLC, no charge, to provide more context around what went on there," he said. "We delivered that recently."

For The Old Republic, Moore says the business model has moved on and the studio adapted to it. He pointed out that 40% of the exit interviews cited the subscription fee as a reason for leaving, so they adjusted their expectations based on that. "We're just reacting to consumer feedback by doing that."

Shacknews

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BioWare... Still Wants You To Tell Them What You Want in Dragon Age III

17. Mai 2012

BioWare has been going back to the drawing board on Dragon Age III for a while now. Dragon Age II, as you may recall, received a mixed critical reception at best— I sure didn't care for it though of course, not everyone hates the game including some thoughtful folks who work here.

Bioware wants you to know that They Are Listening To You, and want to hear every idea that you may have about the third installment. Seriously. Every single possible idea you may have.

At PAX Prime last year, they held a panel where they engaged the audience to find out what they wanted. At PAX East this year, they did the same thing. And starting this week, they've been doing it yet again on their official blog.

From a post on the 14th by BioWare's community manager Jessica Merizan:

Beginning today, we'll do a series of questions and discussions around Dragon Age. Consider this a conversation between fans, the community team, and the developers. Everyone at BioWare is incredibly excited about the future of the franchise but we're interested in what you have to say. Every month, we will discuss a topic or question about Dragon Age and game development. You will have one week to post your thoughts, desires, and hopes before we close the thread for review. Moderators and developers will pop into the thread to chat every now and again, so keep an eye out.

These questions and discussions are not only for future games, but other potential products like novels, animated features, pen and paper RPGs, and comics – all of which offer us opportunities to expand on parts of the world.

Merizan is sure to be clear that what they're making no promises with any of it, but that they're interested in engaging the very vocal community to make sure they know what people want as they make the game.

The question for May?

"What kinds of things would you like to discover and learn about the Dragon Age world?"

[Insert joke about wanting to discover why the second game was such a disappointment.]

This sounds like one part good community management and PR, one part genuine interest about what the fans want, and one part hoping to really listen and not have a repeat of The Ending Controversy That Shall Not Be Named.

I have to (somewhat jokingly) ask—in between all the conversing and feedback-wrangling BioWare is doing, I do hope that they have time to implement a few new ideas of their own!

Dragon Age: Origins was a beloved throwback to classic PC RPGs, and fans rallied around it. Dragon Age 2, not so much. Many fans felt the game had changed too much. So as BioWare prepares for Dragon Age 3, it's soliciting feedback from its vocal audience.

A post on the BioWare Blog says the team is going to be asking a series of questions about what fans would like to see from the series. "Consider this a conversation between fans, the community team, and the developers," it reads. "Everyone at BioWare is incredibly excited about the future of the franchise but we're interested in what you have to say." Questions will be posted monthly, and fans will have a week to reply. The post states this feedback will be used for the universe as a whole, so that could include things like novels or animated features.

The first question, which starts today, is very lore-based: "What kinds of things would you like to discover and learn about the Dragon Age world?"

"However, it's worth reminding that we're not making promises, we're talking about ideas," the blog states. "We won't guarantee that things we discuss will materialize and weâre not showing anything until we're ready."

We don't know much about a potential Dragon Age 3, but BioWare did cancel a Dragon Age 2 expansion to explore "other opportunities." At PAX East 2012, BioWare hinted at more open spaces (without repeated assets) and bringing back full equipment options for party members.

Shacknews

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BioWare opens dialogue on Dragon Age

16. Mai 2012

Dragon Age: Origins was a beloved throwback to classic PC RPGs, and fans rallied around it. Dragon Age 2, not so much. Many fans felt the game had changed too much. So as BioWare prepares for Dragon Age 3, it's soliciting feedback from its vocal audience.

A post on the BioWare Blog says the team is going to be asking a series of questions about what fans would like to see from the series. "Consider this a conversation between fans, the community team, and the developers," it reads. "Everyone at BioWare is incredibly excited about the future of the franchise but we're interested in what you have to say." Questions will be posted monthly, and fans will have a week to reply. The post states this feedback will be used for the universe as a whole, so that could include things like novels or animated features.

The first question, which starts today, is very lore-based: "What kinds of things would you like to discover and learn about the Dragon Age world?"

"However, it's worth reminding that we're not making promises, we're talking about ideas," the blog states. "We won't guarantee that things we discuss will materialize and weâre not showing anything until we're ready."

We don't know much about a potential Dragon Age 3, but BioWare did cancel a Dragon Age 2 expansion to explore "other opportunities." At PAX East 2012, BioWare hinted at more open spaces (without repeated assets) and bringing back full equipment options for party members.